Canada's CEOs

Canada's top CEOs earn 200 times an average worker's salary

The average salary a Canadian will take home is $49,738 and the 100 highest paid CEOs earned that before 10:57 AM on January 2.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report examined the 100 highest-paid CEOs at TSX-listed companies for 2016. Those corporate executives average annual compensation hit a record $10.4 million — that's  than 209 times an average worker's salary of $49,738, says the report.

It also found that top CEOs got a big pay hike. Their average compensation rose eight per cent compared to 2015, whereas an average worker's salary rose by just 0.5 per cent. 

"CEOs continue, year after year, to increase that gap between them and the average worker," said David Macdonald, report author and senior economist with the CCPA.

 The basic pay made up only 11 per cent of a CEO's compensation. The lion's share came from share grants (33 per cent), bonuses (26 per cent) and stock options (15 per cent).

For 2016, Valeant Pharmaceuticals CEO Joseph Papa scored the top spot, earning more than $83 million in total compensation. Almost $56 million of that came from share grants.

Magna CEO Donald Walker came in second, earning $28.6 million, most of which ($26.4 million) was the result of share grants and bonus pay.